San Antonio, Texas Mayor Julian Castro, left, talks with his brother Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, right, prior to testifying before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration. Congressman Castro is focused on the art of the possible.

Photo By CHRISTOPHER GREGORY/New York Times

Julian Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and the grandson of a Mexican immigrant, testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2013. The committee held its first hearing on immigration reform Tuesday as the Republican-controlled House moves to stake out a position on the issue. Puneet Arora of Immigration Voice is at left.

Photo By CHRISTOPHER GREGORY/New York Times

Julian Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and the grandson of a Mexican immigrant, is seen through a television camera eyepiece as he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2013. The committee held its first hearing on immigration reform Tuesday as the Republican-controlled House moves to stake out a position on the issue. Puneet Arora of Immigration Voice is at left.

Photo By CHRISTOPHER GREGORY/New York Times

Julian Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and the grandson of a Mexican immigrant, testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2013. The committee held its first hearing on immigration reform Tuesday as the Republican-controlled House moves to stake out a position on the issue. Puneet Arora of Immigration Voice is at left.

Photo By CHRISTOPHER GREGORY/New York Times

Julian Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and the grandson of a Mexican immigrant, testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2013. The committee held its first hearing on immigration reform Tuesday as the Republican-controlled House moves to stake out a position on the issue.

Photo By CHRISTOPHER GREGORY/New York Times

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), brother of Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee where his brother testified on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2013. The committee held its first hearing on immigration reform Tuesday as the Republican-controlled House moves to stake out a position on the issue.

Photo By Susan Walsh/Associated Press

San Antonio Texas Mayor Julian Castro, right, and his brother Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, center, talk with Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, all from San Antonio, before the beginning of the House Judiciary Committee hearing on America's Immigration System on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Mayor Castro was one of the witnesses.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON — Mayor Julián Castro urged House Republicans on Tuesday to streamline the visa process and provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Castro testified before the House Judiciary Committee, where he gave an impassioned plea for comprehensive immigration reform, saying current laws no longer work.

“America is watching,” Castro said. “Let's get this done.”

The House hearing was held a week after a bipartisan group of senators unveiled an immigration reform plan and President Barack Obama challenged Congress to act.

Republican lawmakers voiced their concern that granting citizenship to undocumented immigrants would create further incentive for more people to come illegally.

Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., the Judiciary chairman, said the panel would move cautiously as it looks to overhaul immigration laws.

“We must move forward methodically and evaluate this issue in stages,” Goodlatte said, suggesting the House may move on separate pieces of immigration legislation.

Castro and other witnesses told the committee the immigration system was in need of changes to help families unite and to keep American businesses competitive in the global economy.

“What Americans deserve is a system that works — a system that is efficient,” Castro said.

The San Antonio mayor, who has shared his family's immigration story, urged the House to strengthen border security, streamline the visa application process and provide a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million people in this country illegally.

Castro's grandmother immigrated to San Antonio from Mexico and worked as a housekeeper.

“In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay,” he said in his keynote speech to the Democratic National Convention in September. “Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation.”

And Julie Myers Wood, a former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President George W. Bush, said any new immigration bill should increase the efficiency of the removal or deportation process.

The differing testimony underscored the diverse views and emotions on immigration reform.

At one point, several young adults disrupted the hearing by standing and shouting: “Undocumented and unafraid!” They were ushered out of the room.

Republicans are pressured to tackle immigration reform following the November elections that saw Obama win 71 percent of the Latino vote.

The president lost Texas but carried Bexar County, most of the major urban centers and almost all of the border counties.

Still, many in the GOP oppose citizenship proposals floated in the Senate, and many have called for a piecemeal approach to reforming immigration laws.

Obama has called on Congress to include a pathway for citizenship in legislative proposals.

Castro said providing such a pathway to citizenship was the best approach to bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows.

A bipartisan plan was unveiled in the Senate that ultimately could grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants who pay fines, learn English and pass criminal background checks.

Castro said providing only legal status, without citizenship, would create an unprecedented second class of citizens.

Republicans and some Democrats have opposed citizenship as an “amnesty” for immigrants who overstayed visas or illegally entered the country.

GOP members of the committee said they favored a system that puts more priority on high-skilled workers, over extended family members, when visas are doled out.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, asked Castro if there was a compromise between deportation and citizenship that Congress could consider to address the 11 million people here illegally.

Castro said the compromise would be that the 11 million would have to earn their citizenship by meeting requirements like those outlined in the Senate proposal — paying fines, back taxes and passing background checks.

He also told the committee that the outdated visa system separates families and hurts American companies seeking skilled workers.

He said “it also makes no sense” that some employers flout the rule of law and exploit employees while other companies, who play by the rules, are handcuffed by rigid employment ceilings and burdensome regulations.